No'am will speak about the recent trauma he and his family experienced, when Israeli government forces destroyed their home and most all of the belongings. He will discuss the implications of such actions, as well as his family's plans to rebuild.

Shivi who was injured in two different terrorist attacks, that resulted in the loss of one of his eyes and severe damage to his legs has a unique style and sound - his music comes straight from his heart and penetrates the hearts and souls of all of those who hear him - An event that you do not want to miss.

K'far Tapu'ah Central Synagogue

Great music, Food and Drinks

FREE

Open to the general public.

Mossa'ei Shabbath Parshath No'ah(Saturday night, November 1, 2008)

8:30 PM

Contributions to help sponsor this special event and to show solidarity with the hilltops in Yehudah and Shomron (Judea and Samaria) can be sent to

This article may seem at first to be dealing with nothing more than semantics. But in this case, we are dealing with words pertaining to our very identity. Our identity is the way we perceive ourselves and broadcast that perception to others. The name we are given and words we use to describe ourselves are fundamental to our identity.

In an interview with Haaretz journalist Daniel Ben Simon the day following Shimon Peres' defeat to Benjamin Netanyahu in the 1996 election, the following exchange took place:

a. the mamlachti State loyalistb. the Gush Etzion "I'm not a settler, I live in a J-M suburb, and think my part of Israel is called 'The Gush'"c. the "Torah first, Israel law second" minority

2. Peres's statement was a classic indication of the division between Erev Rav, which has no connection to the Land, and the Jews who actually inherited it.

3. Any time there is a mahloqeth between datti leumi and haredi, the so called post Zionists are jumping for joy. Let's not give them the last laugh. So, how about if the mamlachtim lay off the haredi bashing. They're part of Israel's future, not the Rabbanim Tze'irim who refuse to acknowledge the stiroth between the Torah and State.

Reaching out to secular Jews is one thing, but to their Erev Rav leadership, no way.

[Orit] Struck linked the destruction of the Federman farm to the deployment in Hevron of hundreds of armed Palestinian Authority special forces in the day.

"The cat's out of the bag," she warned. "The deployment of PA troops in Hevron was meant to free up IDF manpower from missions involving fighting terrorism, providing security and saving lives, to missions of expelling Jews from their homes and destroying lives."

Extreme right-wing activists said following the outpost evacuation, "We set a price tag for the evacuation. We caused damage to nine Palestinian graves in the Hebron cemetery, we cut the tires of Palestinian vehicles and hurled stones at the security forces and at Palestinians in the region." (Click here for the full story.)

The standard Pesha Council (criminal Yesh"a Council) whining about hidden Shabba"k agent "provocateurs" making such comments and taking such actions appears in the Arutz 7 story by Hillel Fendel.

True or not, what good does it do only to whine about it? Do something constructive, like go and rebuild the Federman's home. Of course, that'll never happen. After all...

"All settlers are equal, but some settlers are more equal than others."

(alla Animal Farm by George Orwell)

This story also includes the despicable comments by Israel's lame-duck Prime Minister Ehud Olmert:

"This morning in Hevron, there were calls for security forces to be harmed. I have instructed the Ministers of Defense and Public Security to take action against this. We are sick of all this violence, verbal violence that brings to physical violence... I expect to hear from the Defense Minister and Justice Minister what is to be done against these people... Whoever expresses himself that way must be put in jail."(Click here for the full story.)

Why do I call these comments despicable? We're all sick of violence, Mr. Sm-Olmert. But apparently, the perpetrating of violence against religious Jews, and Jews living in particular pieces of the Jewish Homeland you would like to throw away, IS perfectly acceptable. You didn't even hint to the traumatic experience the Federman family suffered and continues to suffer.

Here's the personal account of what No'a'm's wife and activist Elisheva experienced:

"As on every Saturday night, we go to sleep late. At 1:25 AM, I received a call from friends who said that they heard that security forces are on their way over to us, and they fear that they intend to destroy our farm. It was strange; there had been no prior warning, so we hesitated to call friends for help. While we were deciding, we hear dogs outside. I look outside and I see a 'black river' [of Yassam forces] streaming towards our house."(Read more...)

Also compelling is the following I received in a private e-mail, attributed to No'am Federman's father-in-law:

0300 Police and para-military border patrol broke into Elisheva and Noam Federman's home without any warning. They smashed the windows in the children's rooms and crawled through on top of the sleeping children.

They beat Noam to the ground and carried him off to jail, injuring three more of his children, and driving the other children, aged 2 years to 17 years out into the rain in their pajamas.

They then took bulldozers and completely destroyed the home together with Noam's holy books, the children's cloths, and their few possessions. The children are currently (still in their pajamas) by me and my other daughter, waiting for news about the rest of the family.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Well, time's up, and the results have been tabulated. Many of you are already familiar with Blogger's poll feature (See "Layout" - "Add a Gadget"). This one was my first, and I had a little fun with it.

Every year in Jerusalem, though not so much this year, there is an uproar over the "Pritzus" problem (immorality, permissiveness, promiscuity) during Simhath Beth HaSho'evah (today's vernacular for "Sukkoth celebrations). "Pritzuth HaGadder" (lit.: "breaking through the fence") can include anything from women being dressed inappropriately in public, intermingling of the sexes, male-female chit-chatting, hand-holding or worse, which I will not mention here. Like it or not it's a bit of a subjective term these days, as are "inappropriately," and "intermingling."

Scientifically, there are many problems with this poll, mainly sample size, sample draw, and even response choices. The opportunity to vote for some of the options may have been more of an incentive to bother to vote at all, than other options.

I won't even bother with any statistical tests, such as an analysis of variance. It wouldn't mean much anyway. However, I believe that I can infer a few things from the poll, or at least have a little fun and guess at who reads my blog, or at least visited the URL at least once.

First, here are the responses and the associated results:

Answer

# Votes

%

1. Get Toldos Aharon and Toldos Avraham Yitzhaq to stop serving food.

1

3.6%

2. Impose a curfew on the women.

2

7%

3. These heinous and oppressive acts of the patriarchal hierarchy must stop!

4

14.3%

4. What pritzus problem?

21

75%

I am quite surprised that only one person voted for #1, probably the most neutral and logical of the four options. The person who voted for this option is probably one of the few people who voted who has actually ever visited one or both of these batei midrash. (I know that there are more than one of these individuals who has paid them a visit.) Feeding the hungry is an important misswah. Yet, providing only drinks will attract those actually interested in the music and dancing, and not just in sitting around fressing and kibbitzen.

Those who voted for #2 simply want to know who is at home watching the kids. Yeah, right. I'll take the Fifth....

Those who voted #3 include tinoqoth shenishbah, feminazis, and/or followers of "She who must not be named" (AKA: The Dark Mistress). I threw in this option to see what would happen. But then I made the mistake of mentioning the poll while commenting on a post by Jack at The Muqata, where such individuals might have been lurking about at the time. I don't regret mentioning it. I just think it may have skewed the results, and now there's no way to know for sure.

Those who voted for #4 include a diverse group of people, which I believe includes, but is not limited to, "American Haredim" (not all Haredim who are American fall into this category, not by a long shot), Modern Orthodox (who didn't vote for #3), mainstream Chabba"dniqs (as a lot of the complaints are against one of their Sukkoth celebrations), mamlachtim, and Jacob Da Jew, who like myself, sometimes finds himself outside of the box.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

While tremping to work on Sunday, I received a strange phone call. A lady calling from a hidden number, and speaking in Hebrew very quickly, said something about having an "emergency." I think she said she needing a teacher to cover a class. I caught the word mekhinah (preparation), as in pre-freshmen year college preparatory program.

I said I had to work at the time she needed me, and good luck finding someone.

My resume is floating around the English teachers' network in Israel, but still, I found it kind of odd, and thought that it could have been a ploy to get me to come in for another meeting with the Shabba"k (General Security Service - Israeli Secret Police).

Am I too suspicious? Has the Shabba"k won, because they have must us feeling like we're constantly being watched, even though we're not, and can't trust anyone, even though we really can?

That's pretty much the attitude in several circles in Yehudah and Shomron (Judea and Samaria).

This year I only paid NIS 75 ($20) total for my lulav and ethrog(click to enlarge image courtesy of Wikimedia). Over the last 11 years in Israel I have been able to keep it under NIS 100 ($26). Right now, I have no doubt that American Jews are dropping their jaws in disbelief. I, myself, typically paid around $75 (NIS 262 back then) for a complete set, while living in the U. S.

No, I do not typically run around finding the cheapest ways to perform misswoth. Even if the high prices for super industrial strength mehadrin sets were within my means, I doubt that I would go out of my way to spend anymore than I usually do.

A friend of mine goes out annually with Rabbi Ya'aqov (ben R' Ovadiah) Yosef, who seems to agree. He recommends going out to buy arba'ath haminim (the four species) on Erev Sukkoth, when prices are typically lower. He is also very knowledgeable about ethrogim, and helps the men with him make their purchases without having to mortgage their homes.

One year I paid NIS 100 for a lulav on Erev Sukkoth, an hour before sheqiah, (sunset). No, I don't think that's what Rabbi Ya'aqov Yosef means about shopping on Erev Sukkoth. There was an apparent shortage that year, and I am telling you, I must have bought the last lulav in Me'ah Sha'arim, and had to lurk around and go down into a tunnel and basement to find it, too. Needless to say, those in back of me, trying to get in, were not pleased. I have to admit, that was one beautiful lulav. Or maybe I just thought so at the time because what I paid for it. No, it was a nice one.

Depending on where I am at the time, I will generally go to the arba'ath haminim shuq in the Giv'ath Sha'ul neighborhood or, like this year, in the Bukharim Quarter of Jerusalem. I like to avoid the crowds, and the usually higher prices in the center of town, where most of the tourists can be found.

Prices were relatively under control this year due to Shemitah. Most all of the ethrogim had qedushath shevi'ith, the special holy status of the produce of the seventh year. Thus they were gathered and distributed under the auspices of various batei din (rabbinical courts).

Some have suggested that batei din should intervene every year, to regulate prices. I'm not sure that's such a bad idea.

Another consequence of this was that most ethrogim were in closed boxes, removing the option to check them over obsessively. Yet, it was also "hit or miss." At the stall I went to on Yehezqel Street, I spun my finger around the boxes of [Yemenite] ethrogim before picking one. The kid tending the stall didn't get it. No matter. I was fortunate, and ended up getting a decent ethrog. Hey, if Rabbi Shlomo Mahpud says it's kosher, that's good enough for me.

I think it is unfortunate that Jews put their all into only a few misswoth, and neglect others.

Obsessive kashruth observance, obsessive Pesah cleaning an humroth (stringencies), and spending a fortune on super, industrial strength, mehadrin arba'ath haminim can not only distract Jews from the performance of other misswoth, but can also mislead uneducated Jews, and even educated ones, into thinking that obsessive kashruth observance, obsessive Pesah cleaning and humroth (stringencies), and spending a fortune on super, industrial strength, mehadrin arba'ath haminim are what Torah observance (ie. Judaism) is all about.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

I was "invited" into talk with the Shabba"k (General Security Services) Tuesday, apparently as part of its investigation into the attack on Prof. Ze'ev Sternhell, which took place a couple of weeks ago.

The Shabba"k agents who spoke with me began by asking me general questions about myself. I got sucked into the idea that if I talked about myself then I would be able to avoid talking about anyone else,...even though I have nothing to say about anyone anyway. I kept talking about myself. Eventually, they brought me to the topic of the poster which was found regarding the attack on Prof. Sternhell. They said very clearly that they know that I had nothing to do with it.

Um,...gee, I hope so, as I never heard the guy's name until that meeting.

They are pretty clever interrogators. It was hard to know when to stop. One minute I was talking about how I arrived in K'far Tapu'ah, and the next the topic was that of the Sanhedrin.

The agents also said they wanted to see me again. They did not seem to want me to talk about this with anyone. But I never agreed to this condition. They told me that if anyone asked why they wanted to meet with me, I should tell people that it was concerning the poster found in the area of the attack. Personally, I think they may be trying to find Jews to work for them.

I would tell you more details of what was discussed, so that I can point out all of the mistakes I made. But the truth is that talking to them at all was a mistake. I was advised to tell as many people as I could that I spoke with them. So, perhaps, no one will ever trust me again. But I doubt that the Shabba"k has much use for a patpatan (chatterbox), which I told them I was three times during the interview.

I sought legal advice, which resulted in being scolded [sort of] over the phone for talking to them in the first place. I was also told that I had no obligation to talk with them, and to tell them that I did not want to talk them, and that's it.

I was told by one friend that the Shabba"k wants people to feel that the focus is on them, that they're all alone. So, when I showed up to Shabbath lunch today, and was asked how I was, my response, was good, because I have my friends. I am not alone.

A Voice Of Judea e-mail I recently received describes their current activities well:

Witch Hunt Continues Against Right Wing Nationalists in IsraelThe Israeli Shin Bet continues to interrogate "settlers" and known nationalists throughout Israel in a monumental effort to find suspects for the recent explosion of a small pipe-bomb outside of Professor Sternhell's Jerusalem home.

Agents identifying themselves as "Ron" and "Guy" have been working overtime interrogating, harassing and threatening dozens of people who are believed to maintain right-wing nationalist views.

Additionally, over recent days, police investigators from the anti-Jewish units have been stopping and interviewing any "new faces" in a continued effort to instill fear in the hearts of new residents and visitors in "settlements" and hilltops throughout Judea and Samaria. New comers are asked to identify themselves, and often brought in for random questions and to ascertain if they are interested in enlisting as informants against "right wing extremists".

Police detectives in the special anti-Jewish squads are often put on traffic detail near "problematic" "settlements" such as Tapuach and Yitzhar to attempt to find traffic offenses in cars driven by known activists.

Voice of Judea Commentary:Ironically, the more the police leak information about the Sternhell incident the more obvious it is becoming that the perpetrators have nothing to do with the nationalist camp. For example, the flier that was allegedly left on the scene does not have the traditional "beEzrat Hashem" marking on the top of the page. Also, the name of the group that supposedly took credit, refers to themselves as the "Mamlachti" brigade, a term that is anathema to any hardcore right wing nationalist.

Sternhell is an old nutty professor who likes media attention. Could it be that the nut placed the pipe-bomb to get some attention? Could it be a leftist provocation? Arabs are killing Jews and plotting attacks daily, and these morons continue to waste millions of dollars to harass innocent people who they have no evidence whatsoever to connect to Sternhell in any way.

The right needs to challenge the harassment and selective treatment in the courts constantly. This is one of the reasons a group of young activists have enrolled in law schools in Israel to master the system that is so regularly used and abused to neutralize legitimate and legal right wing activities.

Sponsors who are interested in helping these activists finance law school and living expenses while they study are welcome to call Yekutiel 0544876709

Some, like David Wilder , Hevron community spokesman seem to believe that the Shabba"k itself did engineered the attack:

Delegitimizaion of the right in preparation for continued abandonment of Eretz Yisrael and expulsion of Jews from their homes or in expectation of Oslo War – Round three – and guess who's to blame?

The Israeli Government (shades of Avhshai Raviv!!!) and to conclude – who might really have done it? My friends, this is a classic Shabak (Israeli intelligence) kindergarten exercise: Let's make the other side look bad. Leave a small bomb at his home, causing little damage but making a 'big bang' (remember – Srak srak), and then let the Rottweilers (Israel radio, television, internet, etc) out of their cages. And then let public opinion gobble up all those nasty right wingers. And then…. Israel will continue playing 'let's make a deal,' without anyone to disturb the game.

I wonder what they will think of my blog, if they know about it, one of the issues that came up in the interview was that of free speech, and that the professor's free speech should be protected, whether one agreed with it or not.

Will my free speech be protected or will it now be subject to scrutinization? Do I now have to be careful about what I write? We already know that at least one [English-speaking] blogger has been taken in for questioning by the Shabba"k.

"There is no doubt regarding the legitimacy of the armed resistance in the territories themselves. If the Palestinians had a bit of sense, they would concentrate their struggle against the settlements…"

And in the Davar newspaper in April, 1988

"Fascism cannot be stopped with rational arguments. This can be stopped only by force, and when there is willingness to risk a civil war. When necessary, we shall have to forcibly deal with the settlers in Ofra or in Elon Moreh. Only a person who is willing to advance against Ofra with tanks will be capable of curbing the fascist drift that threatens to inundate Israeli democracy."

Sounds like incitement to me. I don't happen to see how killing him, though, would help matters.

And so, as I write this I await the Shabba"k's phone call. Will they come after me anyway? Will I lose my job, when I am late, or a "no-show" at work, and don't even call? I know at least one person who had this happen to him.

It doesn't matter; it can't matter. All through Yom Kippur I thought about whether I was to be more afraid of HaQadosh Barukh Hu or of mere human beings. The answer is clear.

I guess I'll find out what they can actually do to me. Either they will send the police out to bring me in, and hold me for a while, or realize that there really isn't any point to it. One colleague suggested the Shabba"k functioned like the agents of Latin American juntas. I hope not. But if so, there's nothing I can do about that. Stayed tuned...

In the meantime, please keep me, Ya'aqov Yonathan ben Bashah, along with all of Am Yisrael in your prayers.

We are living in difficult and confusing times, but we'll get through it, b'Ezrath HaShem.

Friday, October 03, 2008

Well, just as I was about to fill out and send my absentee ballot in, to cast my vote for U. S. President, I caught a glimpse of a statement Vice Presidential candidate, Gov. Sara Palin (R-AK) made in her debate with Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) last night.

"We have got to assure them that we will never allow a second Holocaust, despite, again, warnings from Iran and any other country that would seek to destroy Israel…. We will support Israel [and] a two-state solution, building our embassy, also, in Jerusalem--those things that we look forward to being able to accomplish, with this peace-seeking nation, and they have a track record of being able to forge these peace agreements."

Um,...a two-state solution? Did you catch that buried within all of the "I love Israel" rhetoric?

Wait a minute. I thought she was a Bible-believing Christian. At least that's what all of my so-called right-wing, religious-Zionist cohorts tell me,...as they fawn all over her in "religious" ecstasy.

Gee, I don't remember any mention of two-state solution in the Bible. Do you? In fact, the Bible clearly teaches against this blasphemous idea. Yes, I did indeed use the "B word."

2 and when the LORD thy God shall deliver them up before thee, and thou shalt smite them; then thou shalt utterly destroy them; thou shalt make NO covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them - Deut. 7:2

And, Gov. Palin, if you're reading, for your convenience, here is a partial list of Biblical citations (with clickable links) which include The Almighty's promise of the Land of Israel to the People of Israel:

3 that then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the peoples, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee. 4 If any of thine that are dispersed be in the uttermost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will He fetch thee. 5 And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and He will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers. - Deut. 30:3-5

23 And I will sanctify My great name, which hath been profaned among the nations, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the nations shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. 24 For I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all the countries, and will bring you into your own land. - Ezeqiel 36:23-26

3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and him that curseth thee will I curse; and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.'- Genesis 3:12

...refers to Israel.

With statements about "two-state" solutions, I guarantee that you are not doing too well in the eyes of The Almighty.

As far as voters are concerned, moderate to liberal Jews already don't like you. Now, you want to scare away the conservative ones? Say goodbye to Florida!

And, to my fellow Jews, see what happens when you side with Edom (Esau, Rome, Christians, the West)? You think he's gonna kiss you on the neck, but then does he? Or does he end up biting you on the neck?

Gee, my friend Matti's crazy idea doesn't sound so crazy anymore. He says we should all vote for Barack Hussein Obama, as he will make it so bad for the Jews in the U. S., they'll finally want to get out and come to Israel.

While many of you were eating seleq or silqa (beets or beet leaves) the other night on Rosh HaShannah, and saying something like "...oveinu yistalqu me'artzenu" (...our enemies should from our land), I was inventing (sort of) a new symbolic use of of not-so-new food on the table.

In Israeli elementary schools, when kids get annoyed by each other they tell each other "oof mipoh!" (get away from here. lit.: "fly from here"). The next time you eat chicken (oaf), you can say "May our enemies oof mipoh!"